1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to computer security, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to methods and apparatus for protecting removable storage devices from malware infection.
2. Description of the Background Art
Computer viruses, worms, Trojans, rootkits, and spyware are examples of malicious codes that have plagued computer systems throughout the world. Although there are technical differences between each type of malicious code, malicious codes are also collectively referred to as malware or “viruses.” Malware scanning or “antivirus” products for protecting computers against malicious codes are commercially available. Experienced computer users have installed some form of antivirus in their computers.
Unfortunately, if a host computer is already infected by a computer virus or other malware, then a removable USB (Universal Serial Bus) storage device which is connected to the host computer is vulnerable to infection by the malware. This vulnerability is present even if the removable USB storage device has anti-virus (AV) software on it. This is because, before the AV software is executed, the USB device is already available and susceptible to an attack or infection by a computer virus or other malware on the host computer.